Fry becomes obsessed with winning a contest sponsored by his favorite drink, Slurm. He goes through many cans in order to try and find the golden bottlecap hidden inside one of them, using the Professor's latest invention, the F-ray, to help. Finally, Fry is successful and wins a VIP tour of the Slurm factory for him and the rest of the crew, as well as the chance to party with Slurms MacKenzie. Along the tour, everyone becomes curious as to what Slurm's secret ingredient is. Fry, however, is more concerned with quenching his thirst. When he accidentally falls into the Slurm river trying to sneak a sip, Leela and Bender jump in after him. The three end up discovering the disgusting truth behind Slurm.

Recap

Opening theme cartoon: "Making Faces” (the last scene of this Simpsons short)

Alien code: During the Slurm Contest Commercial, Alien Code #1 makes another appearance. Near the end while the rules are being flashed, the following phrase appears in code. "The Following Species Are Ineligible: Space Wasps, Space Beavers, Any Other Animal With The Word "Space" In Front Of It, Space Chickens And The Elusive Yak-Face." (side-note: "Yak-face" is an action figure of Star Wars (Return of the Jedi) that hasn't been sold in USA, and collectors pay BIG money for it. It was added because David Cohen owns one).

Alien code: The Alien Code appears again on the medical eye chart behind the Professor back at the lab. It reads "No Squinting Four Eyes".

LOOK HARD: The Professor and Leela are playing a variant of Scrabble. On the Professor's tile tray, you can see F-U-U-T-A-M-R. On the board you can see the tiles arranged to say "one eye", "prop only", "donut", and "Matt area".

Though it aired in the second season, this episode was part of the first production season and appears on the first season's DVD set.

Episode Quotes

Leela: I've never seen anyone so addicted to Slurm.Fry: This is nothing. Back in high school, I used to drink a hundred cans of cola a week...right up until my third heart attack.

Fry: Ah, if only there was some way of knowing which can had the winning bottlecap inside.Bender: Huh, w-what? I didn't hear you. I was too busy using this F-ray to look inside of things.Fry: Wait a second. I'm getting an idea. N-No, false alarm. No. Yeah. No. Yeah. No. Wait. No. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. Yes!

Professor: Who are those horrible orange creatures over there?Glurmo: Why, those are the Grunka Lunkas. They work here in the Slurm factory.Professor: Tell them I hate them.

Leela: Hey, what's behind that door?Glurmo: Nothing.Leela: Is it the secret ingredient?Grunka Lunkas:(singing) Grunka Lunka dunkity dingredient, you should not ask about the secret ingredient.Bender:(annoyed) OK, OK, we get the point.Leela: I was just curious because of the armed guards.Grunka Lunkas:(singing) Grunka Lunka dunkity darmed guards-Bender:(shouting angrily) Shut the hell up!

Leela: This all must have something to do with the secret ingredient.Fry: My God. What if the secret ingredient is people?Leela: No, there's already a soda like that, Soylent Cola.Fry: Oh. How is it?Leela: It varies from person to person.

Cultural References

Episode Plot

The plot to this episode is very similar to Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.